Meet Miracle Mile Champion #15: Patrick Bibbee

The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon and ½ Marathon is October 21st and we’re honored to be the event’s title beneficiary. As we countdown to the Marathon we’ll introduce you to our “mile champions.” These 26 special children and teens, each with a moving story to share, will be designated a mile along the event course. They will serve as patient ambassadors – to motivate participants and engage the entire community in this vital fundraising event. Each child will have a fundraising page for their mile and many of the miles will have corporate sponsors.

This week we introduce you to Patrick Bibbee

Age: 18 months Hometown: Columbus, Ohio Condition: Prematurity

Patrick was a twin born at 23 weeks (17 weeks early) and weighed just 1 lb 7 oz and was 11 3/4 inches long. Because of his premature birth, he suffered pretty much every complication a baby born that early can suffer (Grade 1 brain bleed, sepsis, open PDA, BPD, kidney reflux, numerous blood transfusions, etc) . At six days of age, he was found to have necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and was transferred to Nationwide Children’s for emergency surgery. He went on to have seven more surgeries, most notably for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) in both eyes, a detached retina, an open PDA and additional intestinal procedures. During all of this, Patrick’s father, a Captain in the Army Reserves, was deployed to Iraq. Patrick eventually came home after 6 months in the NICU and today is a joyful, ornery and healthy 18-month-old.

No matter what obstacle was presented, Patrick’s doctors never gave up. During their six month stay, Nationwide Children’s hospital became a second home to the Bibbee family, and the doctors and nurses became their second family. Let Patrick’s motivation inspire you to achieve your marathon goals!

Become a Children’s Champion – If you’re already registered for the Marathon help fundraise for Nationwide Children’s Hospital while you train. We have all the tools to help you get started and motivate you along the way.

Volunteer here. Hundreds of volunteers of all ages are welcome and needed.

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Donna Teach is Chief Marketing & Communication Officer at Nationwide Children's. Her job is to help the hospital feel "connected" – Connected to each other, connected to our patients and their families, referring physicians, the community and the world.